In the words of Phil Nickelson from Android Central: " we say Android is open source while IOS and Windows Phone are closed source, but nothing is as open as you think it is, while at the same time nothing is as closed as you think it is."

Yeah, that was actually my first thought too, but the thought is flawed.

You are suggesting that MS would misuse sales numbers of HTC's dual-boot Android/WP devices, to report artificially inflated OS share. The thing is, OEM sales numbers aren't really used to measure OS market share. OEM sales numbers are used to judge OEM market share and OEM success, which is certainly also important, but those aren't the numbers MS would want to inflate.

The numbers that do matter, in regard to OS market share, are those published by Kantar, ComScore, etc. Their numbers are ascertained by monitoring web traffic, and are thus influenced by the OS people use to surf the web. Their measurements would be completely unaffected by such dual-boot devices. If a person never boots WP8 on their HTC One, they will never be counted as a WP8 user. These analysts also tend to publish numbers that are rather similar, so I just don't see how MS could get away reporting numbers that are 5% higher than everyone else's. It's just too obvious.

Finally, if MS really wanted to artificially inflate the WP sales numbers in that fashion, then HTC definitely isn't the right partner. If that was truly their intent, MS would have taken that offer to Samsung, and as far as we know, that didn't happen.

No. The idea is a different one. Just keeping more phones in the market and on shelves is probably the biggest reason. Letting people use WP8 without any risk is probably another reason. Likely there are more.

I would instantly buy such a phone, not because I would want to use an Android device, but because it would be a great way of comparing WP to Android on identical hardware.

I personally don't think that it is that good of an idea. I just don't like the fact that WP and Android will be on the same device. If people wanted a WP device then they would have gotten a WP. Those who wanted an Android would have gotten an Android.

I personally don't think that it is that good of an idea. I just don't like the fact that WP and Android will be on the same device. If people wanted a WP device then they would have gotten a WP. Those who wanted an Android would have gotten an Android.

What if someone wants both? What if someone isn't sure what they want, and would like to try both? What if a heavy Android user doesn't want to risk spending an upgrade and/or money on a device they may not like, but would be interested in trying WP if doing so is risk and cost free?

Increasing WP market share is increasingly about getting people to try something unfamiliar, and as such, this certainly serves a purpose. I doubt Google would allow it, and I don't know enough to judge it on its technical merits (storage space etc), but the idea is good.

I don't think it means that you can boot with whatever OS you would like whenever you want. I think it simply means that when you're purchasing the phone, you will be asked if you want the Android version or the Windows Phone version. Then you will be given whichever you choose and that will be your OS until you upgrade again. I highly doubt they're talking about dual booting operating systems.

Google probably wouldn't like it, but how could they stop it? I'm not necessarily challenging the idea, but could they prevent it if they wanted to?

Google runs something called the Android Compatibility Program. It requires that every OEM submit each device to Google for review, before it can be sold on the market as an Android device.

The list of reasons for Google not to approve a device isn't publicly disclosed. It is speculated that no such list exists, essentially allowing Google to ban any device, for any reason (like a dual-boot option they don't like) from participating in the Android ecosystem.

Such a device can still be sold, but it can't be marketed as an Android device. More importantly, access to many of Google's services is revoked, including the Play Store and Google Maps (others too). That isn't a direct ban, but functionally similar, as it is expected that any such device would fail commercially.

Its plain obvious this is purely to reduce the cost of creating a WP device, to encourage HTC to continue supporting the OS when sales aren't great.

You are misjudging that. To create a single dual-boot device would be significantly more expensive then just developing two separate devices with no overlap. Just consider all the retesting that would be required for one OS, after changes are made to the other. Also consider everything that is still missing to make something like that even possible (firmware updates can't erase everything on the device, storage partitioning, etc... the required amount if reengineering is massive).

My opinion ... never going to happen. These are two diffrent OS, and both have good and bad thing... unless they combine all the good things from WP and all the good things from Android. That would be like an atomic bomb for the market. I hope they dont combine all the bad stuff xD

If they dual-boot these phones, it'll have to be something revolutionary because if its something like what's involved in dual-booting PCs, it'll be waaaay to big of a hassle and will never catch on.

What about dual booting is a hassel? Having to reboot? Lol ohhh no. Esp if this does happen I would assume there would be an app "boot to other OS" that would just do everything @ the click of a button.

What about dual booting is a hassel? Having to reboot? Lol ohhh no. Esp if this does happen I would assume there would be an app "boot to other OS" that would just do everything @ the click of a button.

It sounds like you're trying to be sarcastic, but really, you just proved my point, so thanks.

Yes, rebooting every single time you wanted to switch to the other OS would be a pain. Congratulations if it doesn't bother you. I would rather have my OS simply lack a feature instead of switching the entire OS by rebooting every single time I wanted to use it.

To my second point, if there was a simple button that allowed you to change entire OS's,that would definitely be revolutionary. To the best of my knowledge, that kind of feature doesn't exist anywhere else.

Well then obviously you are not this theoretical phones audience. Which is fine. But for someone who has never used one of the operating systems it would be a great way to try them both out. I don't see this ever happening, but a reboot has never been a pain for me, I really don't understand what would be a pain about it. I've never had an android phone so to me this is intriguing.